An odd family reunion
by pezgirl1
Summary: Willow’s runaway older brother comes to Sunnydale to protect his baby sister from an enemy of his.
1. The past

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Levi

Willow's runaway older brother comes to Sunnydale to protect his baby sister from an enemy of his.

The year 1985

Levi Isaac Rosenberg ran up the stairs to his room and slammed the door loudly before locking it.

He turned around red-faced with anger and frustration and tried to calm down; he had endured yet another one of his parent's angry and disappointed lectures.

He hated them! They only cared about their stupid jobs- didn't give a monkey's about their kids.

He jumped onto his bed, crossed his arms over his chest and brooded as he remembered why they had yelled at him.

They expected him to get an 'A' in his science test as usual and as usual they had been disappointed because he had only got a 'C+' even after studying hard.

Not that he had a choice; they forbade him to go around his friends houses so that he could study.

But he didn't want to- he wasn't like his sister, he wasn't practically a genius like she was.

He was just an average student who cared more about having fun than getting a good grade; his parents hated that about him.

His little sister was only four years old yet she was more intelligent than he was, she had her IQ test almost a year ago stating that her score was 140+.

Translation; She was off the charts smart and everything came so easy for her.

That didn't change their parent's attitudes towards them. They ignored Willow as much as they ignored him except that they yelled at him more.

Willow was cool; she was the only person that had ever thought about him and his feelings. Even though she was a little kid she still knew that their mom and dad were bad parents and glared at them a lot.

Unlike him she had managed to get a good friend in the first day of Kindergarten, a dark-haired boy by the name of Xander and the two four-year-olds stayed together all the time.

Xander was a nice boy and looked after his sister while they were at school and made sure that Cordelia and her cronies didn't pick on her too much.

Levi himself had a few choice of words to the group of girls after they had made his baby sister cry and had yelled at them loudly.

They hadn't said a word to Willow for months but he knew that they'd eventually start being horrible to her.

Levi was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard a small tapping noise at his door, knowing who it was already he got up, unlocked the door and let his sister in.

"Are you okay?" she asked and her bright green eyes were full of concern.

He sighed and replied, "I'm fine, it's just mom and dad having another one of their talks again."

She frowned thoughtfully and then a bright smile lit up her face, "I've got an idea!"

He looked bemused, "Yeah?"

Willow nodded energetically and said, "Me and Xander are getting ice-cream, you can have some too!"

Levi snorted sarcastically and ran a pale hand through his red hair which was exactly the same shade of red as his sister's. "Yeah, I'll just ask mom and dad!"

Willow rolled her eyes as his sarcasm, "We won't tell them."

Levi looked confused and then he got it, "We're going out alone?!"

She nodded and said, "It's only at the playground."

It took less than five minutes to get to the playground from their house and their parents wouldn't notice at all! They could do it!

Levi grinned and forgot about their parent's lack of parenting skills for a while.

Three months later

Levi growled in fury and stomped around his room like he had been doing for the past hour.

He was grounded!

For the school holidays because he had gotten a 'D'! He was twelve years old for god's sakes!

It wasn't fair, it really wasn't!

It's not like he didn't study- he did but that was still not good enough for them that he had at least tried!

He scrubbed at his red and swollen green eyes as they filled with tears again at remembering his parent's last words before his was sent to his room.

Apparently he didn't 'turn out right' as his 'dad' had said.

His 'mom' had had a fit and started yelling at him- in front of Willow- about how they had produced a complete failure.

Both his so-called parents had had things to say- but it was what they didn't say that had cut him up.

'You're no good, worthless, just a mistake!' Levi could hear it in their voices how little they thought of him.

They didn't even stop ripping into him when his sister had started screaming at them to stop saying those things.

They only stopped when he started crying and had banished him to his room for the next two weeks that just happened to be a school break.

Yep, he had a whole two weeks cooped up in his room with no friends- not that he had any.

The fact that his sister wasn't in the room right now to comfort him obviously meant that their 'mom' and 'dad' had forbade her from speaking to him at all for the rest of the holidays.

For the next thirty minutes all he could hear in his mind was his 'parent's' hurtful words and finally he jumped off his bed and put some of his clothes in his school bag and crept down stairs as quietly as he could.

His sister was most likely in her room and in bed while his 'parents' were usually in their office working.

He grabbed his coat and slipped out of the house unnoticed.

In the morning Willow would carefully open her brother's door and go into his room against her parent's wishes but would only find an empty room.


	2. Sister in need

17 years later

Willow strode out of the Summer's residence and past an ambulance barely noticing Xander calling her name.

Tara was dead, that's all she could think about. Tara- her whole world, her everything- was dead.

And it was their fault- that stupid trio of geeks- they made her baby's light disappear. But it was Warren Mears who had directly ended the blonde's life.

He hadn't cared, he just ran- he probably bragging about it right now.

The completely blank expression on her face bellied the absolute rage burning within her; all she could see was red.

The dark magic that she had bottled up inside her was free and just fueled her rage, she smirked slightly.

Magic, that was what Warren had wanted- power- well, he was just about to get a taste of it.

She felt a tingling sensation and looked around at her surroundings, she saw the Magic Box and gave a dark snicker of pure menace- she could feel the magic that the shop had in it.

All the books and objects that held so much magic and power, she needed power.

The next thing she knew she was inside the Magic Box and she could practically smell the power, she barely noticed Anya who was looking fearful while trying to talk to her.

"I need power," Willow heard herself say. That was all she could think about- more power equals more pain and suffering for that murdering little-

She heard Anya's voice warning her away from the books, she stuck her hand out behind her and sent a tiny jolt of magic at the vengeance demon.

The books, she had them and she was using her magic to collect it all up- books as well- onto the table in front of her.

The books were open as they clattered to the table in a very large pile.

She splayed her hands and put them into the books- and then they sunk into the pages.

Anya was watching, she knew that and she didn't care. She knew that her hair was turning black as power filled her entire being.

That was so much better!

Now she had a load of retribution to deal out.

Miles away in San Francisco

Thirty-year-old Levi was talking to a student of the coven he was responsible for; the kid was having a little trouble controlling his Telekinesis and was asking the High Priest- him- for help.

He had been granted leadership of the coven less than a year ago, he loved helping his charges discover and control their power.

After all that was what Melissa had taught him, she was the previous High Priestess of the coven before she died and had been training him for sixteen years on how to use magic.

It took him a long time to get over her death; she was like a mother to him and had treated him like her own son.

Lissa was the one who had found him wondering the streets one night and had saved him when a vampire had tried to kill him; she had taken him in and had raised him.

If she hadn't taken him in he doubted he would've lived any longer, living on the streets wasn't the best way to live.

He had spent almost a year on the streets and living in hostels most of the time, it wasn't nice but it was safer and also warmer.

Lissa had sensed his untapped power and had helped train him and was surprised at how powerful the boy's potential was, she had known right away that she had to teach in the ways of using magic responsibly.

Even now he was powerful and very well taught.

Levi was just about to sit down and help the student when he felt something oddly familiar flare up in his mind, he cringed as he felt rage and power erupt inside him.

He tried to concentrate around the powerful and dark emotions that he was feeling, he barely noticed that he was now on the ground after collapsing.

"Mr Levi? Mr Levi?" the voice seemed very far away even with the fear that laced it.

He barely felt the boy shaking his shoulder carefully and then stop.

All he could feel was the rage, the magic and the darkness…the power that seemed slightly similar to his own.

But, that was impossible the only way that two energies of magic could be even SLIGHTLY similar is if both the magic carriers were…

Levi's heart almost stopped and his breath caught in his throat.

"Willow."

He felt someone lift him from the ground and then he blacked out.

A few days later

Willow stood on the Kingman's Bluff facing her long-time best friend as he stood in front of the statue looking determined.

Didn't he understand, she had to stop everyone's pain- it's all she could feel.

Different levels of pain and anguish screaming in her head, there was no getting away from it. How could she let everyone suffer? No one should have to feel this much pain.

There were so many tortured souls- everywhere, begging for their Hell to end and to put them out of their misery.

"I love you Willow," she cringed inwardly. Why did he do this? How could he love her?

Willow growled to cover the pain of his truthful words, "Shut up!"

He was blasted back into the statue by her magic, she heard him grunt in pain and then felt remorse; She was supposed to be stopping the pain, not causing it.

Why couldn't he just understand!

"I love-" she choked back a sob and got angry.

"Shut UP!" she made a swiping motion with her hand and felt worse as her Xander sunk to the ground in pain.

"I love you," he repeated, another swipe tore the skin on his chest.

"I love-"

Another swipe at his shoulder. But he walked towards her, "I love you."

"Shut up!" she cried. She gave him another blow but it wasn't as forceful.

"I love you, Willow."

"Stop," she whimpered.

She tried blasting him but I didn't work, so she hit him with her fists.

No no no no-

She collapsed and Xander lowered her to the ground while she cried, the more she continued crying the more her hair changed back to red.

The blackness in her eyes faded away leaving only emerald green.

"I love you," Xander said again.

Back at the coven in San Fran

Levi had been unconscious for a few days and when he woke up he saw two woman talking in low voices, "…no, the coven in England….witch was stopped."

He strained to hear them and then decided to speak up, "What happened?"

He remembered everything, his little sister needed him.

"Levi, how are you-

"Willow- what happened to her?" he interrupted in a no-nonsense tone.

The women looked at each other and then looked at the red-haired man, "Word came back from a coven in England that a Seer sensed an Apocalypse coming."

No, she couldn't- not Willow, not HIS Willow!

"She said that a powerful dark force had risen and that it was fueled with rage and vengeance," she continued.

"The woman- Willow- had seen the accidental murder of her lover and had sought retribution."

He took a few moments to digest that information, he shook his head slowly, "Will…" he drew out sounding pained.

She was his sister- his BABY SISTER! He should've protected her.

A small voice at the back of his head said that he hadn't been protecting her for seventeen years; he was such a bad big brother.

A small part of him realized that the reason he hadn't spoken to his sister was because he was afraid that she wouldn't remember him- or that she's hate him for leaving her behind with their selfish parents.

But he couldn't stay away now, not after feeling so much pain in her- she was just a kid!

No one that young should feel that much pain, especially not Willow; she was such a good kid.

"There's also something else we should tell you," said one of the women carefully. "Athos, has gone missing- we're pretty sure he felt you sister's power-"

Power?

"She's a witch?!" finally what the women were talking about slammed into him.

The women- Dena- looked at him slightly exasperated, he winced; okay, so he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box…

The other women- Trisha- shook her head sadly, "We had no idea there was a possibility that your sister would be magical as well."

Neither had he!

He swallowed, "Is she powerful?"

Oh who was he kidding! Of course she was powerful, Athos wouldn't have left his position if she wasn't.

Athos was a very, very powerful warlock. He fed off the magic of others to feed his own power, but he had been forced to stop by them.

It happened when he was fourteen and was still a student, Lissa had come across a warlock sapping power from another witch and the entire coven – not including the students- had felt the need to bring him to justice.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the way it turned out.

Athos had destroyed over half their group and he had gotten away with broken bones and head injuries, the coven was at the warlock's mercy and the only thing that stopped him from killing the survivors was the redheaded teenage boy.

They didn't know the reason why the Warlock hadn't killed them but the coven knew that it was him- they didn't know why the boy made such an impact on the bad guy but he hadn't come near them again after that.

They couldn't bring him to justice without killing themselves in the process so instead they watched him and for some reason Athos had stopped killing- it baffled their minds.

It was as though both sides had a mutual agreement not to go near each other again.

Until a couple of days ago had hadn't moved from his usual position.

That fact that he had moved not long after the Sunnydale girl's rampage left them feeling on edge and wary.

There's got to be a reason.

Levi didn't care what the reason was- he was going to Sunnydale to look after his sister.


	3. Pain and Arrival

Family relations chapter three

Xander walked unsteadily towards the Summers residence with his best friend in his arms, he was worried; the redhead hadn't even said a word since she'd broken down on the Bluff.

At the moment her head rested on his undamaged shoulder, she was as still as a statue- catatonic.

God, he hoped that she wasn't completely broken beyond repair.

He shook his head angrily, he should've helped her- her and Buffy. He'd let both his friends down.

They had let each other down; Buffy had been devastated at being torn from heaven and Willow had been falling off the bandwagon.

He of course had dumped Anya at the alter because he had been so scared that he'd turn out like his abusive drunken father, it happened in a lot of families; the abused became the abusers.

He knows that there is a strong possibility that he could succumb to his dark past and all the traumatizing events that had happened to him practically since birth.

He didn't want to hurt Anya- she was his everything. And so was Willow in a platonic sense.

So, he had left his almost-wife at the alter; he didn't mean to make the entire ordeal humiliating- he shouldn't have freaked out so much that he had felt disorientated.

He was too wrapped up in his own life to realize that Willow had needed help as well as Buffy.

Every time he thought about what Willow's magic withdrawals were like he kicked himself- god, had she been crying and shaking with pain and misery all alone feeling the coldness of her bed?

He should've been there to hold her and encourage her- they all should've.

And Buffy, how could he have been so damn blind- so completely stupid!

If he ever caught Spike again he'd kill him; vamp-strength be damned! He abused a vulnerable young woman who needed psychiatric help.

How could she not! She dug herself from the goddamn ground!! God what had happened to their group?

He knew the answer.

Giles.

Giles had left thinking that they could take care of themselves on their own- he thought wrong.

Not that he blamed the ex-watcher, he had obviously been getting tired; he was after all in his mid-late forties and had been looking to live the rest of his life in peace.

God, they all thought that they could handle the independence. They might be young adults but they had the world on their shoulders and a responsibility that no one should have.

They needed help, they had made so many mistakes. It was hard to think about when it started going bad.

When they had started drifting apart.

Xander walked up to the door and didn't need to even knock because Buffy came running out quickly.

"Xander! Are you ok- Willow? She isn't?"

He wasn't surprised that she had asked, "She's not dead, she's okay…well,…"

He trailed off.

Without another word Xander followed Buffy inside.

Meanwhile at San Fran

Levi stood at the roadside and hailed a cab over.

"Sunnydale," he said and the driver nodded.

Levi jumped in and the vehicle pulled out from the curb and towards his destination and his sister.

His coven had been reluctant to let him go alone, but after some convincing and a reminder that he was more protected from Athos than anyone else that had grudgingly let him go.

He had butterflies in his stomach; he was so nervous.

He was going to see Willow for the first time in seventeen years and he was kinda scared, what if she really did hate him? Or had forgotten him?

He pushed those feelings away and focused on the fact that his enemy was probably after her; the only thing he had to worry about was if he could save his little sister.

Then he would take her away from Sunnydale and get her some magical training- she obviously needed it.

He should've talked to her long before now, he should've gone to Sunnydale earlier even if it meant being rejected, then he would've known that she needed training.

It could've been prevented.

He had to find some way to make it up to her somehow- hopefully she'd let him at least try.

10 hours later; back in Sunnydale

Buffy hugged her best friend tighter as the redhead screamed again from yet another nightmare, god, she hated this!

She was the Slayer, the leader of the Scoobies and she had let Willow down. She'd let her go under after she had went through hell to make herself better.

So many mistakes!

Not talking sucked! It gave her too much time to think about all the times they could've avoided this and avoided Tara's death.

She thought about all the times that they all should've realized that Willow needed help, the witch had stayed and helped her fight the darkness and it wasn't even her destiny. She could've left whenever she wanted.

But she didn't.

She had stayed just like Xander, Anya and Tara had, neither of them had a destiny- they had all the chances in the world to back out.

She'd messed up big time, they all had.

She just hoped that they all had a chance to repair all the damage.

She hugged the redhead as she whimpered in her nightmares, she saw another pair of arms stroke Willow's hair back from her tear-stained face; Xander was hugging the young witch as well.

This was the first time in a long time that the three of them had exhibited this much unity.

Buffy had decided then and there that things would improve- no matter how hard it was, things weren't going to deteriorate this much ever again.

Xander and Buffy hadn't been able to leave Willow alone, not like this.

After Buffy had cleaned Willow up in the shower and got her dressed into night clothes she had then helped Xander get patched up and then they had comforted their buddy as much as they could.

Dawn was in her room probably trying to sleep but not succeeding. Anya was probably downstairs watching television and mourning over her almost-husband.

Giles was most likely either nursing a glass of scotch or talking to the coven that he had got his magic from.

They were a pathetic group weren't they?

They thought that they were infallible; they were wrong.

Meanwhile in the middle of Sunnydale

Levi Rosenberg looked at the slip of paper in his right hand; 'Revello Drive'. Where's that?

He was trying to navigate his way through this town and was also trying not to run into any beasties along the way; he could feel his sister through his connection to her.

She was extremely distressed and he knew that she was dreaming, he hoped she was safe until he got there.

If wasn't in such an emotional state she would've felt him through the link as well, it also would've been the first time.

The link had opened up about four years ago but it only would've been one-sided so she would've felt it at all.

He walked past a building called 'The Bronze' which was obviously a club for entertainment, also a perfect feeding ground for the walking dead; people could be so stupid sometimes.

All it took was a passing vampire and they would be dead, that never stopped them though.

He shook his head disbelievingly but pushed the thoughts away and continued trying to find the house that his sis was in.

A cat screeched suddenly and made him jump; he grew a fireball but stopped as it was obviously not a demon, he extinguished the fire and rolled his eyes irritably- this town gave him the wiggins.

He grinned a several minutes later as he found the 'Revello' sign and looked at the numbers on the houses quickly in turn.

He sped up the drive towards the right door and paused suddenly with his hand in a fist ready to knock.

What would he say? Would she remember him? Would the Slayer think he was a demon or something?

He shook his head fiercely- he was doing this for his sister. The warlock might be trying to kill her.

He needed to help.

The redheaded man raised him fist once more and knocked loudly.

He swallowed hard and waited for someone to answer it.


	4. Together again

Family relations chapter four

Buffy brushed a few strands of red hair away from Willow's face and behind her ear, the young witch shifted in her sleep and made a few distressed noises as the nightmares reared their ugly heads again.

Willow's nightmares had lessened to a point where she only pulled unhappy faces in her sleep but after the next half an hour they had steadily gotten worse.

Poor Dawnie had streaked into the room as fast as lightening when she though Willow was being attacked and had brandished a rolling pin at them.

If the situation wasn't so miserable the blonde would've found it amusing when she looked at her dazed little sister ready to attack a bad guy with whatever weapon she could grab.

Dawn had obviously became a bit close to falling asleep but she couldn't after hearing the redhead's screams and the fifteen year old had felt like bring Warren back and killing him.

Dawn had chosen to join Anya by the television and had grabbed a pop-tart not feeling all that hungry, the pastry went cold on the plate as the teen had only taken one small bite and then left it.

Buffy and Xander had remained firmly by Willow's side and had refused to budge even an inch away from their friend, the slayer and the carpenter had decided that as soon as they could all of the Scooby gang would talk about their problems and feelings under the strict rule to not omit a single thing.

They were going to make it work this time.

Xander opened his brown eyes as he heard a faint noise of the door bell, he gave Buffy a confused and curious look and then listened as they heard someone opening the door.

Dawn Summers stared into space completely lost in thought and jumped as the doorbell rang, she turned to the vengeance demon beside her and saw that she was asleep.

The former Key got off the sofa and made her way to the door and opened in slightly looking cautiously through the crack- hey, it was Sunnydale, you had to be careful!- and she saw that it was a man that looked in his very late twenties and had longish red hair, a pale slightly round face with a few faint freckles across his cheeks and nose and big green eyes.

Dawn raised a cool eyebrow at the man as she looked through the crack, he turned to her and said, "Um, do you know anyone called 'Willow Rosenberg'?"

She swallowed nervously and then glared, "Are you from the Watchers' Council?!"

Dawn felt anger creep up as she thought, 'I wouldn't be surprised if those stuck up, arrogant little…men sent someone over to kill Willow.'

Dawn growled and was going to yell for her sister when the man spoke again.

"What, those pompous old stuffy men!?" he looked insulted. "I'm not from the Council of Watchers' but I know them."

Dawn licked her dry lips and asked, "What do you want with Willow?"

The man appeared to be thinking for a moment before nervously muttering something that she couldn't hear, she gave him a look that quite plainly said that she hadn't heard him at all.

"I'm a relative of hers," he looked incredibly nervous and continued. "I wanted to know if she's okay."

Dawn frowned, "Will never said anything about any family- she barely talks about her parents."

A dark look came over the man's face and he snorted mirthlessly, "Wouldn't surprise me."

He looked around tensely and said, "Can I come in?"

Vampire?

He must have seen the hesitant look on her face because he said, "I'm not a vampire I just don't want to be eaten by one while I'm standing out here."

Dawn turned and shouted for Giles who came in a few moments later looking exhausted and holding a drink, "Yes, Dawn?"

Giles took notice of her nervousness and the fact that the door was opened a bit, "What is it?"

"Just some guy, he says that he's a relative of Willow's," then she hurried on. "He knows about demons and vampires too!"

Giles grabbed the young girl and pushed him behind her ignoring her protests and then told her to go upstairs and get the others, she grudgingly obeyed.

Giles grabbed a small sword and put it behind his back, then he opened the door and looked at the visitor as if looking at a threat and gave him a Ripper-ish look.

"Would do you want with Willow?" the ex-watcher asked coldly.

He noticed with satisfaction that that the boy looked scared, but then he looked determined and gave him a look that made Giles lose his scary look and stop dead.

'Good lord,' he thought. 'He looks exactly like Willow and her 'resolve face'.'

"I'm-," the boy paused and then looked around and grimaced. "Look, get Xander he might remember me."

Giles looked at him questioningly and then he heard footsteps and saw that Buffy had came downstairs with an axe and looked ready to kill.

The redhead swallowed nervously as he eyed the axe-holding Slayer and blurted out, "My name's Levi Rosenberg!"

Buffy looked gob-smacked and then glanced at Giles who said, "He claims to be a member of Willow's family, he also wants to speak with Xander."

Buffy gave the man a piercing look and then opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted as Xander came downstairs followed by tired and miserable-looking redhead.

"Who wants to speak with me?" asked Xander putting an arm around Willow's shoulders comfortingly.

"Xander, do you or Willow know anyone by the name of Levi Rosenberg?" asked Giles not taking his eyes off the supposed threat.

Willow thought for a few seconds before going pale and then running to the door accidentally bashing into Giles in her haste, her eyes were wide and then she threw her arms around the man and started sobbing into his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her in her hug.

Xander stood beside Giles watching them carefully, the carpenter was still trying to work out who he was when finally it clicked, and he looked speechless.

Buffy looked from Willow and the man she was hugging to a silent Xander and then to Giles looking confused and asked, "Giles?"

Giles just shook his head slightly and looked confused, then Xander spoke, "Levi?"

"You know him?" asked Buffy.

Xander slowly grinned, "Levi! Willow's brother!"

Buffy gaped and Giles just looked at him and said, "I- what?"

Willow slowly pulled away from her brother and looked up at him, he was smiling at her and he pinched her cheek slightly saying, "Hiya Kiddo."


	5. squabbles and a memory

Levi and Willow sat together on the sofa sitting with Buffy, Xander and Anya while Dawn and Giles sat opposite them; they were talking about Athos the warlock.

Levi had informed them straight away about the warlock who was most likely looking to hurt Willow, he told them about what the warlock did to the coven and everything else; he omitted nothing because he wanted to make sure his sister was safe.

Willow looked confused and then asked, "Why is the warlock after me?"

Levi shook his head, "I dunno, he just disappeared after you went all Darth Rosenberg."

Willow looked miserable and she looked down, he winced at how his explanation sounded, he could a right ass sometimes.

He hugged her and said, "I'm sorry about your boyfriend."

Willow looked at him confused and then realized that he didn't know, she blushed and shifted uncomfortably, "Not boyfriend, um, her name was T-Tara."

She looked pained, "She was my girlfriend."

Levi gave her a fish impression, "Gah, um…okay…."

Willow smiled nervously, "Well, at least you're not calling me 'Will' like Buffy did."

Buffy shrugged sheepishly and told him about how everyone had reacted when Willow had told them that she was gay.

Levi got up and said that he should phone his coven and tell them of him arrival and then asked where the phone was.

When he came back about ten minutes later Willow asked him about his coven and if they could help her control her magic.

"Willow, after Athos is finished I'm taking you to the coven in San Francisco," then he muttered. "For good."

The witch's eyes narrowed as she heard the whisper, "For good?"

She shook her head, "I'm not leaving my friends here."

Levi looked at his little sister gobsmacked, "Will, I'm not leaving you here- it's a hellhole!"

"I'm an adult, Levi and believe it or not I CAN make my own decisions!"

Levi's face went pink, "You're MY little sister! I shouldn't have left you here in the first place!"

Willow glared at him slightly, "I was fine!"

"With Ira and Sheila?!" he looked incredulous. "They are neglective assholes and you know it!"

The Scoobies watched with interest as Willow and Levi began fighting like…well, siblings.

"I survived," she said shortly.

"Barely, or I wouldn't be here!" Levi's emerald-green eyes flashed dangerously.

Willow shook her head; her brother always did have a short and explosive temper. They might look alike but she was mild-tempered while her brother was a time-bomb waiting to go off.

"Wait, 'you wouldn't be here?' I'm glad you care!" she shouted and as a window shattered magically the Scoobies intervened and tried to calm them both down.

Levi pushed his anger down as he realized that his sister wasn't very safe to be around when she was angry because of her magic, he needed to get her out of here.

Xander was hugging her and trying to get her to calm down.

Willow got a hold on her anger and hurt, maybe she was angrier at his departure than she thought. She had cried for months after he'd left and the final wedge had been driven between her and her parents.

Willow could still hear her parent's angry voices in her head when they had shouted at Levi for the last time; they hadn't even cared that he'd run off.

Xander had been the only one who'd looked after her; she still remembered the morning after Levi had ran away.

Flashback

_Willow looked around the playground and spotted her dark-haired friend, she ran to him and her eyes were full of tears as she caught up with the boy._

_Xander's eyes went wide, "Willow, why are you sad!?"_

_Her face scrunched up, "L-Levi is gone!"_

_Xander was confused but he hugged her tight anyway, she started crying and said, "Mommy and d-d-daddy don't care!"_

_Still failing to comprehend this he asked, "He'll come back won't he?"_

_Willow shook her head, "No! Mommy and daddy y-yelled at him and it was real bad."_

_Xander still looked confused but was almost getting what she saying._

_Willow sobbed, "They didn't care…"_

"_He lefted me with them."_

_Xander felt anger rise up as he realized that Willow's parents had made her brother run away from home._

_He pushed it down and just hugged her, "He'll come back."_

_Willow sniffed, "But when will he!?" _

_Xander shrugged awkwardly, "I dunno."_

End flashback

Willow hadn't even looked at her parents for about a month and had tried to make their lives as hard as she could to make them pay.

She looked at her brother and asked, "Why didn't you come back sooner?"

Levi swallowed, he had been dreading that question, "I- I thought that- I didn't know…if you'd hate me or not…" he trailed off.

Willow blinked, "Levi…I was angry but I never hated you- not even for a second."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

Buffy looked at Willow for a moment before saying, "Will, maybe you should go."

The redheaded woman gave her best friend a hurt look and then the Slayer continued, "Maybe being around the Hellmouth isn't good for your magic- and what happened with- with Tara…I think you could do with a break."

Levi looked hopeful; maybe with his sister's best friend on his side she might leave Sunnydale!

But his hope dwindled as Willow put on her infamous 'resolve face' and said, "I'm NOT leaving you guys here."

Buffy sighed; you just couldn't beat the 'resolve face'.

Levi rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand and said, "They'll be alright here without you, Will."

Willow looked exasperated, "You don't know that!"

"I'm not leaving them behind!" she said determined.

Levi scowled getting riled up again, "You said yourself that you wanted to control your magic!"

"I do, but I still want to come back afterwards," she explained.

"WHY!? Why would you want to be here!?" he exclaimed. "The Demon War isn't your fight!"

Willow gave him a strange look, "'Not my fight?' Is started being my fight when Jesse was killed, then when Ms Calander was killed and now that Tara's gone…the world has almost ended several times now and I'm apart of this world- I LIVE in it."

Willow gave her brother an intense look, "It's everyone's fight."

Levi appeared speechless.

"So, when do you think Athos will come and how do we stop him?" she asked.


	6. research and a discussion

Family relations chapter six

Willow, her brother and the scoobies sat around the room which had books strewn across the floor, tables and chairs.

"I believe this…Athos, has dark hair?" asked Giles sounding as British as usual.

Levi ran a pale hand through his longish red hair nodded, "He had dark hair- it's more like dark purple, um, kinda stringy."

Buffy made an 'eeww' face and then turn a page of her book over, usually she wouldn't be this concerned about research but Willow was involved so…

Giles took note of the descriptions of the warlock and continued looking through the book he was holding, he removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Replacing the specs he looked at the illustration and decided that the sketch looked a little like Levi had described, he stood up and gave the book to him.

"Is this Athos?"

Levi shook his head, "It looks a little like him but it isn't the guy we're looking for."

Giles sighed and sat back down, continuing with his research.

Levi glanced at his sister who was also looking through the books and he wondered how she had survived the hellmouth especially with their parents leaving her unprotected all the time.

Willow should be in bed and getting some rest- hell they all should, but they had decided to stay down because they needed to find a way to stop the warlock. Plus Willow's 'resolve face' had stopped her from being sent up.

An annoyed Dawn had been marched upstairs to bed by her sister when she refused to catch up on her sleep.

Buffy and Dawn obviously fought a lot, looking at their relationship he wondered what it would have been like watching his sister grow up- would she be have been annoying? Would they have yelled at each other a lot?

Oh well, at least they were together now.

Hopefully Athos wouldn't split them up permanently.

He wasn't ever going to leave her again- even if it meant them both staying in Sunnydale, though he hoped that he could convince her to stay away from the town.

Well, at least they could bond over magic and demons…god, their lives were weird! Levi wished that he could teach her to control her magic at his coven before Athos came but he had no idea when he would strike- it could be in the next few weeks, days, hours, hell he could start attacking right now.

What if Athos had gotten even more powerful? Just because he hasn't drained witches doesn't mean his powers wouldn't have developed.

Power grew all the time, in him, in his sister and also in Athos. The witches he killed made his development faster and stronger.

Athos had wiped out most of the coven when he was a teenager, YEARS had passed since then. Who knew how powerful the psycho was now.

And now the warlock wanted Willow, who wasn't in any condition to fight him right now. He wasn't even sure if his sister would want to use magic especially as Athos was technically a human being.

No, she wasn't ready to fight him. Not yet. But she might not have a choice.

But there was Xander, the dark-haired carpenter who had stopped her from making the biggest mistakes of- well, you couldn't get any bigger than trying to end the world.

Xander was obviously going to stay with Willow through the fight incase she lost control of her magic.

Levi was pulled from his thoughts when Xander exclaimed, "Hey, hey I think I found our little warlock-friend!" the carpenter grimaced. "Wow, you weren't kidding about the 'stringy-hair' were you? Looks like he could take a few personal-hygiene tips from Cordy."

Levi snorted with mirth and took the book that the younger man held out, yep that was him.

"That's him alright," the redhead said grimly.

Willow appeared at Levi's shoulder and looked at the picture and then started reading carefully as the scoobies gathered around the book.

"This SOB has been EVERYWHERE, killing god knows how many innocent people." Levi said. "Before he started on the coven he's been in North America and around parts Europe. People usually record information like this."

Willow continued reading and then swallowed, "This guy's real fast and it's obviously going to be hard to fight him when there's just me- I mean last time it was a whole group of experienced magic-users."

"This guy moves fast," explained Levi remembering the fight that took place years ago.

"Yeah," agreed his sister. "But he does have a weakness we can exploit."

They all looked at her, she took a deep breath. "The warlock, according to the book, is vulnerable to attack when he is in the middle of sapping magic from witches."

"We can use that," she continued.

"Great!" Levi had a triumphant look on his face.

Willow shook her head, "But who is he going to be feeding from?"

Then a look came over her face, the blonde slayer knew what that look meant.

"No, Will," Buffy said firmly. "We'll find another way."

Levi looked confused, "But he could come at any minute!"

"We'll find another way!" repeated the blonde stubbornly. "There's no way Athos is getting that close to Will."

Levi had a blank look on his face, "Why would Willow need to be near him?"

Buffy looked exasperated, "Because Athos is after Willow so she would be bait and we would have to attack him while he's feeding off Willow's magic."

Levi gulped, "I get it." Then he turned to Willow, "We'll DEFINITELY find another way!"

Willow groaned, "But it's his only weakness that we can use."

"We'll use that weakness, but you won't be the bait," Levi said looking a bit pale but determined.

"But Giles might not survive that, he's already had his magic sapped from him," she had a guilty look on her face.

"It won't be Giles, he might come after me- I am connected to you after all," he explained.

Willow shook her head but before she could say anything her brother said, "If he comes I won't have any choice."

Levi continued, "You said it yourself; Giles is too weak and you're needed to stop him- so there's just me."

Willow opened her mouth but he interrupted again, "And don't argue because this is damn scary and it's taking all of my nerve to not go running for the hills right now!"

Willow sighed, "My magic's too volatile I might not be able to do it and what if I can't?"

Levi swallowed, "Then I'll haunt your ass for a very long time."

"Besides, you've got Xander to pull you back if you go nuts again," continued Levi jerking his head in Xander's direction.

Giles put a hand on Willow's shoulder, "It might be the only plan we have."

Willow looked stressed and ran a hand through her hair, "Okay."

Buffy then said, "We have to plan this, we can't fight him unprepared."

"Lets start planning then," said Xander."


	7. Athos and the plan

Family Relations chapter 7

Athos circled the statue of Proserpexa with a look of intense concentration on his face; the sun shone around him and was showing him in ordinary jeans and a blue t-shirt and sneakers.

Dressing in black and looking evil probably wouldn't let him fit in with the crowd, especially in the daylight – he'd stand out too much. So he dressed as a normal person.

He snorted, he hadn't been a normal person for YEARS, not since before he found out about the supernatural and had started dabbling in dark magic when he was a mere teenage boy.

He shook his head and his thoughts and memories away, he didn't like thinking of the past it made him weak- he had always been weak and helpless before the magic had saved him.

His dark brown eyes flashed to fathomless black as he concentrated harder, he felt a flicker of the witch's magical signature and focused on it making it clearer to him.

Her signature was similar to that of her brother's just as he'd expected, he smirked evilly and turned to the town of Sunnydale below him, they were pathetic- all of them.

The demons and vampires lurked in dark shadows and even more during the night waiting for their prey to come along stupidly and then they would move in for the kill.

The stupid humans never learned their lesson, even when they got away they forgot the warning signs and did it again and again and again; they had everything he had never had and they were sacrificing it- throwing it all away.

In the parts of his dark and tainted soul under the evil he felt a flicker or anger, exasperation and disgust; he knew that if he had had as much as they had he wouldn't be throwing it away so carelessly and stupidly.

He pushed the thoughts away again and started down the hill towards the town while memorizing the feeling of the signature, he didn't notice the warmth of the sun or the blue sky.

He was cold, to the touch, inside and everywhere. He couldn't remember ever being warm.

He got to the small town and walked past Sunnydale's residents and the buildings and the many cemeteries holding many graves of dead people that the town had taken.

He walked passed the churches that claimed that God actually existed, he bit back a laugh, there was no such thing as God- the world was too full of evil for there to be.

He had never believed in God, not even as a small child because it would have been stupid to seeing as there was only badness surrounding him even when he did nothing to deserve that badness.

His eyes went a darker shade of black even as he fought to keep himself looking normal as he walked passed a popular looking club called the 'Bronze' he pushed his magic from him in a probing wave and searched for a magical signature like the one he had memorized.

He looked passed the demonic signatures and then carefully touched the magical ones; none of which were remotely similar to the witch's, he searched and probed with more intensity and finally reached a small part of town with several different signatures and two others- one which was similar to the one he felt at the Bluff and the one he was looking for.

As he walked passed an alleyway he was suddenly dragged into it and was now facing a vampire who had obviously and stupidly got stuck outside in the daylight but was surviving in the shadows.

The vampire went for his throat but Athos grabbed his face and grew a ball of fire in the very same hand, the vampire screamed and then blew into a could of dust; the warlock sniggered, "Idiot."

Then he continued towards his destination as if there was no interruption.

He walked faster and pushed his way through the crowds ignoring the indignant noises and complaints the passersby made, he continued on determined.

He had found them.

Back at the Summers's house

Several hours had passed since they had started planning how to take down Athos and evidence of their plans lay around the room they were in, the scoobies including Dawn who had been woken up three hours earlier were listening to the plan.

"We wait for Athos to come and we make sure that Willow isn't anywhere near him- but still in the house- and Levi will be the bait and piss him off to make sure that the warlock will go after him," explained Buffy. "Willow will start on the binding spell and bind his powers as quickly as possible- you have memorized yet, right?"

"Yeah," answered Willow who was standing beside her brother.

Buffy continued, "Levi will make sure that the warlock stays in position until she finishes the spell, afterwards when Athos is powerless I'll grab him and hold him down."

"What about the others?" asked Levi.

"They'll be on guard incase anything goes wrong, Anya can protect Dawn if Athos comes their way," explained the slayer.

"Protect?!" moaned Dawn. "But I can fight!"

Buffy shook her head, "Not 'till later- much later."

Dawn growled but kept her silence.

Willow took a deep breath, "So, Levi baits, I bind, Levi will hold Athos in position and then Buffy'll grab him."

"Sounds simple, but it's not foolproof," warned Buffy. They nodded.

Levi and Willow went tense, "Hopefully it works," Levi said nervously. "Because I can sense him coming- and if I can then that means he's really close and closing in."

Buffy swore, "Dawn, go upstairs," she ordered and gave her sister a sword hoping she wouldn't have to use it.

"Buffy!"

"DAWN, JUST GET UP THERE!" she yelled her patience running out fast.

Dawn glowered looking angry, "You're not mom you know!"

Then she stomped upstairs with the weapon.

Buffy felt a hand on her shoulder and faced Willow who said, "She just wants to help fight, I think it's about time we let her."

Buffy shook her head but Willow interrupted, "She's the same age as we well when we started fighting, sooner or later she's going to start realizing that we can't keep her away from that world."

Buffy sighed, "I know, I just don't want her getting killed."

The she thought for a moment, "I promised Dawn that I'd stop shielding her from the world so much."

Willow looked surprised, "Really?"

"Yeah, when we were fighting those earth demons…um….," the Slayer winced as Willow looked down in guilt.

Buffy hugged her, "Stop blaming yourself."

Willow looked at her best friend in disbelief, "Who else am I supposed to blame?"

The blonde was about to answer when Levi spoke up, "Uh, not to interrupt but Athos isn't going to wait for you two to finish your conversation."

They both blushed in embarrassment and started to get into position, they didn't know where in the house Athos was going to appear in but they were ready to run into whatever room he appeared in- which was most likely to be the front room where they were.

They couldn't be sure if he had the ability to teleport or not- hopefully not- but they were sure that he would crash his way through a window or the front door.

Outside

Athos smirked slightly as he felt the witch inside the house he was opposite.

"Showtime," he whispered.


	8. the attack begins

Family relations chapter 8

Willow shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably as the waiting dragged on, he was taunting them, she realized. Was it just her or did the bad guys here love taunting them? Typical.

She looked at her brother, he was looking ill but ready to fight. On closer inspection she realized that his face had gone a sickly shade of green. She doubted he'd run from the fight but still…

"Lev, how are you doing?" she asked concerned. "You'll be okay fighting, right?"

She saw him gulp, go greener and then look at her with large, scared green eyes; he nodded and sighed, "Will, the last time I saw him he wiped out half my coven and a lot of very good friends- I'm just…nervous."

She nodded then said, "This Athos guy seems to be taking his sweet time, if you wanna back out now, you can."

He looked like he was considering it but then shook his head scowling, "No, I have to do this. Athos is after you, I can't run…I already did that and most of the time I wish I hadn't; I'm supposed to be your big brother but I screwed that up when I left you with our parents, that was bad enough. Now we got a homicidal warlock after your power, if I run away from this I really am no good."

Just like Ira and Sheila had said, 'no good'. Levi's eyes darkened and look troubled, had they been right?

Willow recognized the look immediately and said, "They were wrong, you know? About you being no good, they were wrong."

Self-doubt clouded his featured, "How can you be sure of that?"

Willow glanced at the window and door warily before looking back at Levi, "Because you're here, you're ready to fight and you haven't backed out."

Levi frowned at the wall opposite him, was she right?

Upstairs

Dawn listened carefully out in the hallway for any fighting, everything was quiet, and there were no signs of fighting at all.

She sighed and looked around restlessly trying to distract herself from the fact that she was shoved to the side-lines yet again. She was nearly sixteen for Christ's sakes, the same age they had been when they'd started fighting demons and a year older than Buffy when she was chosen as a Slayer.

"Trying to distract yourself when we're under attack by a murderous warlock isn't smart, Dawn," remarked Anya bluntly. "That's why I'm up here and not down there."

"I don't need anyone protecting me," snapped the teenager. "I can fight just as good as everyone else, but no one will give me a chance."

Anya sighed, "If we give you a chance you'll most likely be kidnapped again," the she paused considering that statement. "Especially if it's Tuesday."

The former 'Key' scowled angrily. "I don't get kidnapped that much!"

"Um, yes you do," retorted the vengeance-demon. "Demons always go for the young and defenseless kids… I should know"

Dawn felt her cheeks burn as she got angrier, "I'm NOT defenseless! And I'm NOT a kid!"

Scowling, she stormed away from the demon muttering furiously.

"Dawn get back here, Buffy said I have to-" started Anya incredulously.

Dawn turned back to glare at the demon, "I don't care what Buffy says." She then resumed her stomping through the hallways.

Growling, she and Anya failed to notice the warlock coming out of her sister's room and walking up to the former-demon silently, shooting a rope of green energy at the demon that soon bound her. He then left Anya and walked behind Dawn, he clamped a hand over her mouth, pain shot through her like a lightening bolt and everything went black.

downstairs

Willow, Levi and the gang were still on edge as the discomfort of the tense wait went on and on, they glanced at each other nervously.

Xander's eyes suddenly widened in horror and fear, "Oh god." He was looking at something behind them and out of Willow, Buffy's and Levi's vision.

Willow turned around and fear shot down her spine, "Dawn!"

The warlock was here and he had Dawn, an unconscious Dawn at that. He was holding her up by magic and everyone but Levi had the unwanted memory of Willow doing the same to Anya flashing in their minds.

Buffy stepped forwards looking angry, "Let her go."

Athos just smirked slightly at her and looked at Willow dismissing the blonde Slayer completely.

"Rather unwise of you to leave two of your friends up there all alone," he said as if telling off a five-year-old.

Xander glared, "Where's Anya?"

The warlock grinned, "She's right here!"

The limp form of Anya floated out from behind him and hung in midair, he twiddled his fingers making her magically dance like a human-sized puppet, her head lolled forwards.

A red-faced Xander launched himself at the warlock but was stopped by Buffy, "You sick son of a bitch!"

Athos plastered a look of mock-hurt on his face and wagged his right index finger at the young man, "Tut tut, now that wasn't nice."

He turned to Willow and was going to speak but then he caught sight of her brother, "Levi, how are you doing these days?" the Scooby Gang felt sick at the disgustingly sweet- and completely fake- concern lacing the warlock's words.

Levi glared at him hatefully, damn it! Willow was supposed to stay out of sight!

Buffy was thinking the same thing, why didn't anything go according to plan? Willow had to do the binding spell, they were screwed if she didn't.

She looked at Dawn and Anya, were they going to be alright?

Athos turned his attention from Levi to Willow, he moved in her direction but was stopped by an energy ball flying passed his head. He smirked at an angry red-faced Levi and squinted slightly in his direction, not bothering to watch him fly magically through the air the warlock turned back to the redheaded witch.

"I think it's time I did what I came here to do," he said smiling at her coldly.

Xander launched himself at him as the warlock tried to grab the redheaded witch, the collision knocked them both to the ground hard. The warlock shoved the boy off him and kicked him in the face, blood sprayed from his mouth and nose as the boot impacted on his face.

As Xander passed out from the harsh blow Buffy and Giles circled the greasy-haired man cautiously, sniggered at them, "You haven't got a chance in hell of beating me, ya know."

Buffy put up her fists, "You wanna bet?" they'd beaten Glory, a god. They could beat him, they'd find a way.

Willow backed away to the place where the binding spell was supposed to take place, she frowned anxiously; Athos wasn't vulnerable to attack- where was Levi? The spell might not work, they had a plan but it looked like it wasn't happening their way.

Athos laughed, "You? Scrawny, little blonde girl?"

Buffy's cheeks reddened in anger then she smirked, "You might be a little surprised."

The warlock smirked back at her, "Oh, I know you're the Slayer, but that won't help you or your friends...not against magic, least of all mine."

He gestured to Giles, "The only magic-user here isn't capable of fighting me at all." He took in Giles's exhausted and bruised form. "And the only witch capable of fighting me for more than a few minutes is too scared of her own power to do so."

Willow cringed at the truth in his words, they were in way over their heads. They'd defeated Glory but Ben had been the god's biggest weakness and literally had been the only means to destroy her. Without that weakness they would've been toast.

There was also the advantage of her magic back then when she hadn't been afraid of it, but without her ability to control it and her fear of using it they had so many disadvantages and too few advantages.

Suddenly, the sofa collided with Athos painfully hard and Willow turned to see her brother looking at the warlock with hatred and disgust, "Forget me, did you? I'm hurt." The sarcasm in is voice was palpable as he glared at the offender, the offender in question was now on his feet after landing on his butt seconds before.

Athos with his volatile temper and egotistical personality lost his temper completely, the magic-user in the room felt the hairs on the backs of their neck rise and prickle as power filled the room. Unnoticed by the others Dawn's and Anya's inanimate forms fell to the floor with two thumps, and the magic wore off them.

Levi gulped as Athos's eyes went jet black with rage filled power, he had to get Athos before he attacked them, otherwise they didn't stand a chance. He concentrated hard and then ran at the warlock, he pushed the cowardly part of him back. The part that wanted him to turn tail and run away from this evil, to leave his sister and her friend's to deal with the situation themselves.

He wasn't running.

Levi took a running leap at Athos as he unleashed his pent up magic, Buffy, Giles, Levi and Willow were literally sent flying in different directions, bouncing off walls and furniture.

The blonde Slayer was sent through the wall behind her with a crash as the structure collapsed under her combined weight and the strength of the shove. If it hadn't been for her slayer abilities she would've died on impact instead she just lay there unconscious and bleeding slightly.

Levi went through the window, the glass shattered and he was now half conscious and lying in the garden.

Giles flew into the small table which immediately gave way to his weight and the force of which he'd been propelled. He lost consciousness instantly and the last think he heard was the sound of the wooden table splintering and shattering into an irreparable mess on the floor.

Willow herself was launched out of the room, through the hallway and into the kitchen, the journey had taken a little of her momentum away and she landed on top the kitchen counter and slammed into the wall behind it.

She blacked out.

A little away from the battle scene Xander's eyes fluttered open, he groaned and touched his nose wincing eyes streaming with pain. His face felt numb and puffy.

He jumped slightly as he saw that Athos was only a few feet away from him but had not noticed his conscious state, he stopped moving and closed his eyes slightly.

The warlock glared around the room and he walked in the direction that Willow went, leaving the room.

He sat up slowly as his head pounded with the beginnings of a nasty headache, he looked around and his gaze fell on his former fiancé and Dawn.

The dark haired young man got to his feet, ignored the pain in his face and head and ran to them, he shook them awake.

Outside in the garden

Levi's unfocussed eyes slowly focused on a familiar face above him, he blinked, "Cody?"

The blond-haired twenty-five year old grinned at him, "You seem surprised to see us."

Us?

Levi sat up and looked around, most of the coven was here, they were spread out assessing the situation carefully. Some weren't doing a thing, they just looked at him concerned.

Cody grabbed his arm and pulled him up, "You didn't think we'd let you fight Athos without us, did you?"

Stupidly, the thought hadn't even entered his mind.

Back inside

Athos smirked at Willow's limp form and took a step towards her.


	9. the attack continues

Family relations chapter 9

The dust was settling quietly to the carpeted floor as some of the wall crumbled a little from where the blonde Slayer had crashed through it.

Blood dripped from a wound on Buffy's eyebrow, ran down her temple and into her hair, she groaned slightly and started coughing as the dust from the broken wall settled on her. She looked around, her head pounding, "Dawn?"

She crawled out of the debris clutching her aching head and looked around, her gaze went to Giles on the broken, shattered table, to Dawn and Anya, then settled on Xander who was helping both the girls to their feet. She ran over to them, "Dawn, are you okay?"

Dawn nodded looking subdued, "Fine," she muttered.

Buffy looked at Anya and Xander who nodded indicating that they were okay, she looked around and while she walked towards Giles, she asked, "Where's everyone else?"

Xander waved a hand vaguely, eyes still streaming while his face was slightly swollen, "Awound," his speech was muffled slightly as his nose ached and stung furiously. 'God, my face hurts!' he thought.

He looked around, "I'b gon da look fa Vill," the words were barely intelligible but she understood. He was going to find Willow.

Buffy nodded, "Athos is gone too," she bent down wincing as her body protested at the action. "Giles, is-" she checked his pulse. "-okay, Dawn, stay with him."

Dawn nodded without arguing, normally this would've surprised the blonde Slayer but she was too preoccupied.

Buffy, Anya and Xander ran from the room.

In the kitchen

Athos was stood stock-still in front of Willow, staring silently at her while his face was a mask of concentration; his eyes were deep, fathomless black as he stared hard at her.

As he started draining the magic from the witch her body twitched, she shifted slightly and her face was a mask of intense pain.

Out in the Garden

After Levi and the coven had gone around the other side of the house they'd caught sight of Athos and a semi-conscious Willow, Levi ran forwards in a fit of anger but was restrained by two members of the group.

"Athos is vulnerable now," reasoned Cody quietly. "We can bind his powers."

The coven agreed silently and Levi tried to get his temper under control, this was their only chance. If he lost it now his sister was a goner.

"Let's do it, then," he said, voice full suppressed anger.

inside the house, hallway

Buffy, Anya and Xander skidded to a halt as they saw Athos and Willow, just as Xander was about to run and drag him away from his best friend Anya grabbed his and Buffy's arm and gave them a look that plainly said to them to stay quiet and still.

'What?' Buffy mouthed silently and impatiently while trying to work out what was so important that they were letting that greasy-haired loon drain Willow of her power and by extension her life.

Anya gestured towards Athos…no, out the window. Buffy looked out the window and saw Levi and a dozen other people she hadn't seen before in her life. She looked at Anya and Xander who was watching the group as well.

"The binding spell," whispered Anya tensely. "He's open to attack now."

Both the young adults nodded in understanding, they had to wait.

The three of them struggled against their instincts that told them to rip Athos to shreds and save their best friend, if they went in now they could screw up the plan that Levi and his friends were obviously working on. They couldn't risk it.

But what if the binding spell was too late? What if they waited too long?

"We should get ready to grab him," muttered Buffy remembering their plan.

Yeah, they knew.

outside

Levi glanced towards the window as they continued with the spell, his gaze fell away; he had to concentrate harder on the spell, he couldn't do that if he was looking at what Athos was doing to Willow.

He could feel the power behind the spell building up more and more as the chanting and concentrating went on, he was surprised that the warlock hadn't noticed what was going on.

the kitchen

Athos frowned inwardly as something in his subconscious nagged at him in warning, not known for being arrogant to the point of stupidity the warlock allowed his concentration to waver and he looked around slightly.

Scowling, he sensed the group outside, or rather the power they were putting together, and he knew they were attempting a spell that was directed at him. He stopped draining the witch's power and concentrated on stopping the coven.

Several moments later he sent out a wave of magic that sent the coven members flying across the street, car alarms started blaring noisily as the magic hit the vehicles.

Buffy, Anya and Xander realized that the plan was going out the window, so they ran into the kitchen and prepared to tackle the warlock to the ground. Unfortunately for them Athos was a step ahead and was ready for the attempt to attack him.

He turned around and raised his hand as they ran towards him; they were stopped immediately and were lifted off the ground and sent back out of the room, he shook his head in disbelief as he wondered how they could have ever thought that they could hurt him.

He turned back to the witch in front of him and concentrated on starting the draining, he failed to notice the sword swinging towards him but he felt the pain slice across his back. He turned back in surprise and was even more shocked to see who had attacked him unexpectedly.

Dawn.

The fifteen year old girl looked at the warlock her gaze full of anger and indignation, "If you think you can get away with attacking my family you've got another thing coming."

outside

Levi and the coven ran back to their place looking determined, they looked at the window to see what the warlock was doing and if Willow was still alive. They gaped in shock as they saw a mere teenager attack Athos successfully; well they hoped the attack was successful anyway.

They watched mutely as the warlock they'd feared for so long swayed in his position and collapsed from their sight.

Sally, an auburn-haired young woman, shook herself out of her surprise and said, "Guys, the spell!"

They snapped out of their own disbelief and got into positions to continue their spell, hopefully it would work this time.


	10. powerplay

Family relations chapter 10

Dawn stared at the warlock, the sword now hung limp in her hand and vaguely noted the blood pouring from the gash on the small of his back.

"Dawn!"

She jumped in fright as her sister's voice snapped her out of her shock, she turned around and saw that her sister, Xander and Anya were looking at her in surprise.

Faintly, she heard herself say, "I told you I wasn't helpless."

Anya cringed, "You didn't need to prove it by hacking someone to bits!" then she paused and continued enthusiastically. "Although, he was trying to kill Willow so I guess the hacking was called for!"

Xander blinked dubiously, "Ahn, whad'd I say 'bout tact." His touched his burning face carefully assessing the damage while looking at the teenager. "Da spell?"

Dawn gritted her teeth and looked out the window, she saw that the group of people were still working on the spell. "Levi and the others are finishing the spell."

Buffy wiped the blood from her face and said, "You guys, take Willow to the lounge; I want the warlock as far away from her as possible."

Dawn looked at her sister, "What about you?"

The Slayer looked at the twitching form of Athos and said, "I'm watching the Athos."

Dawn nodded.

Xander ran over to Willow and checked her over for other injuries besides bruises, there were none; so he scooped her up and secured her safely in his arms and went into the lounge, Anya and Dawn followed him to check on Giles.

Anya looked at the former-librarian concerned, "We should get him to the hospital, he might be seriously hurt! Well, even more than he was before. He could die!"

Xander and Dawn both cringed, "He's not going to die," said Dawn firmly.

"We'll ge' him to a hobi'al soon," said Xander, his speech still affected by both the swelling and pain.

The three of them jumped in surprise as a yell and a crash came from the kitchen, Xander told Dawn to wait with Giles and Willow while he and Anya went to check on Buffy.

Willow meanwhile started to move, she grimaced in pain and opened her eyes. She felt something stir in her, something unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time.

She felt the magic outside the house, her brother's magic.

She unconsciously touched Levi's magic with her own and explored it, she felt her brother's anger over what the warlock had done to his coven and what he'd tried to do to his sister.

She saw the Summers' residence through her brother's eyes and felt his coven next to him.

outside

Levi frowned slightly in confusion as he felt his magic react to something, his subconscious looked at the force that was touching his magic and felt the link with his sister flare violently and painfully.

The links connected and their magic flowed through the connection between them, he felt the dark magic in his sister touch him and intermingle with his own.

Pain ripped through his body and soul, he staggered backwards still continuing with the spell.

the lounge

Willow's eyes flashed black with power and she rose into a sitting position. Her face then contorted with pain.

the kitchen

Once they got to the kitchen they saw that their friend had Athos pinned to the floor, the warlock in question was writhing around on the ground and yelling in anger and pain.

'Maybe the spell's working,' thought Xander hopefully.

Buffy turned to Anya and Xander and said, "Lil' help here!"

It wasn't often that Buffy needed help physically, she was stronger physically than all the Scoobies put together, but as green energy started zapping at her they realized that now was one of those times that their leader needed them.

Athos was obviously trying to get the Slayer off him by using what little magic resided in his body, as most of the power in him was currently being drained by the spell.

As Buffy was zapped again she couldn't help falling backwards onto her back as her grip on Athos was released. Xander and Anya immediately lunged at the warlock and held him down while the Slayer shook off the magic and helped with holding him down.

Athos growled with rage and they could feel the power in the room, Buffy gritted her teeth and hoped that the spell would work fast.

They failed to notice Willow walk into the room, eyes and hair shifting from black to red and back again. Her magic filled the room along with some of Levi's.

Dawn was next to her looking confused and anxious.

Athos grinned suddenly at Buffy and the blonde felt a wave of dread flow through her, she looked into the warlock's eyes for a split second and saw the utter insanity in his soul reflected in his cold, black eyes, "Ah…shi-

Everything went white.

Outside

Just as the coven completed the spell they had watch in mute horror as the house turned into a ball of flame, they were blown backwards across the lawn by the force of the explosion; the heat was more than intense at the close range they were in.

Levi looked at the sky blankly, the oxygen knocked from his lungs, and blinked; he could feel something wrench at his soul but he didn't know what it was.

He grabbed his stomach and yelled in pain, he curled up into a ball still in pain and felt his magic screaming at him, burning him. His eyes flashed molten-white and then dulled as his consciousness slipped away as well as his magic.

several minutes later

Cody shook his friend's shoulder hard, trying to wake him up. The redhead was barely breathing, he doubted that he was injured physically which meant that what was happening to Levi was mystical; the hospital would be no good.

He cringed as he heard some more of the house cave in, he looked at the fiery mess it was now and shook his head in sadness, "Poor Levi," he muttered. Sally must have overheard him because she looked at him oddly.

"Save your sympathy for that lot still in the house, they're dead," she looked at the burning building.

"Levi's sister's dead though," he argued with his eyebrows raised. "He's gonna have a hard time of it for a while."

Sally nodded now agreeing, "I guess."

Harriet, a brunette girl in her early twenties was scouting around the house looking for any signs of life. There were none as of yet.

in the ruins of the house

Fire danced around the house searing and destroying everything in its path, parts of the top floor of the house fell through the ceiling and crashed into the ground floor. Sparks flew and a choking smoke filled the air.

All windows were shattered and some of the smoke filtered out of the house.

The lounge and the kitchen were both filled with smoke and fire, except for the two huge air bubbles keeping the destruction at bay.


	11. The Link and Anya's musings

Family relation chapter 11

Buffy opened her eyes slowly, then squinted against the reddish-orange light glaring into her vision. She blinked rapidly trying to clear her sight so that she could see what was going on around her, "Dawn? Will!?" she called out.

No reply.

As her eyesight started to adjust she climbed to her feet, fists raised warily. She looked around and gaped as she saw huge walls of fire and smoke surrounding her; despite the ferocity of the fire it seemed as though something was keeping it back, something round and dome-like.

She forced herself to look away from the firewalls, then she took in her surroundings and found her friends before running over to Willow and Dawn's unconscious forms. She checked her sister's pulse…she was okay; she checked Willow's…it was slow, but she had one at least.

Dawn stirred, the blonde shook her sister's shoulders gently and watched in relief as she opened her blue eyes. "Dawn?"

"Buffy?" Dawn said hesitantly. "What's going on?" she sat up and looked around in fear. "There's fire everywhere!"

Then she frowned in confusion when she realized that the fire seemed to be being deflected away from them, she looked at her sister, "What happened?"

The blonde Slayer shook her head in bafflement, "I dunno…magic I guess, but I don't think Willow is doing it." She moved away from Dawn to the redheaded witch and shook her shoulders in the same way as she had to Dawn.

Willow's eyelids didn't even flutter.

Dawn looked at Buffy in a panicked way and asked, "She's not-

Buffy's eyes went wide, "No! No, she's alive. She'll be fine." Hopefully.

After telling Dawn to stay with Willow the Slayer rushed to check up on Xander and Anya who were still lying by Athos…or what was left of him. She cringed as she looked at the charred mess that was once a powerful, and insane, warlock.

As she touched Xander's shoulder both he and his former-fiancé jerked awake, they sat up and looked around at the walls of fire. Anya was the first to speak, "I'm sure that we're supposed to be dead, why aren't we?" then she gulped nervously. "Not that I'm complaining."

Xander was shaking his head slightly in resignation, "Oh, you know whad Sunnyhell's like, anathin' dha' isn' normal…" he waved his right hand tiredly. Then he caught sight of an unconscious Willow who was having her shoulder shaken by a worried-looking Dawn. "Vill?"

Buffy put a hand on his shoulder, "She's okay, I think…her pulse was weak that last time I checked it."

Anya looked at the witch, "She isn't going to die is she?" she hoped not, dealing with Joyce's death was bad enough. She and Willow didn't exactly have a completely friendly relationship but she did admit to herself that…well, she cared. That was it, she just cared. Even though Willow did smash up her shop and steal stuff.

Strangely enough, when she took a step back and looked at their relationships, she knew the dynamics of the Scooby Gang.

Between the three of them, Buffy, Willow and herself, they had a somewhat sisterly relationship, the three of them shared a paternal relationships with Giles and were either extremely close to one and other or shared a little animosity; a typical sisterly bond. Willow and herself had love-hate feelings that while Willow and Buffy were as close as siblings without any hate only rivalries.

It became obvious to her when Giles had burst into the Magic Box to help Willow, and to stop the three of them fighting. Anya could remember what the witch had said to Giles.

("Uh oh, daddy's home. I'm in wicked trouble now.")

Buffy's reply to her question brought her out of her musings, "She'll be fine, we won't let her die."

She and Xander both stood up, "Where's Giles?" she asked concerned.

Buffy shook her head, "I dunno, there…um, there might be a barrier like this around Giles, he's in the other room, though." But what if there was only one barrier?

Anya was thinking the same thing, then she shook her head to get rid of the thoughts, Giles was fine. He had to be. He was the Watcher, even if he was old…and stuffy too; she wondered if her dad was like him- not that she even remembered her parents…too many memories and too much time had passed.

She knew about her friends' parents; Willow's didn't give a crap, Xander's were abusive drunks and Buffy's…well, Joyce was great but Hank Summers was an ass who didn't even go to his wife's funeral.

Giles was a great dad to them, even though he didn't have to be. He had more of a "little sister-big brother" relationship with Willow (more than the "daughter-father" one that she and Buffy had with the ex-Watcher), very affectionate, mutually respectful, but often had conflicts- especially where magic was concerned.

The dynamics of the Gang were obvious when you looked close enough.

Buffy helped Dawn carry Willow by grabbing one of the witch's arms and securing it over her shoulders while her younger sister held the other; they brought her to an upright position.

Xander looked around at the walls of fire and smoke and said, "Whad now?"

outside

"Why isn't Levi awake yet?" asked Cody looking puzzled. He frowned, "Something isn't right."

Levi's head was resting on Cody's legs as he knelt on the ground; a few members of the coven were still checking the house out while he and Sally stayed with the coven leader.

Sally then spoke up, "Hang on, I swear I remember him saying something about he and his sister sharing a magical link a few years back…you don't think…"

They both frowned and considered this for a few moments, then Cody started shaking his head, "No way."

Sally looked at him and asked, "What?" for a minute he didn't reply.

"It's just a theory, but, what if Levi's unconscious because of Willow?" it was a long shot.

The auburn-haired witch looked confused, "No, well. If Willow was dead wouldn't the link just disappear-it shouldn't hurt Levi like that, should it?" she looked at the young man with her eyebrows raised.

Cody seemed speechless then he said, "Get the coven back here, now."

Sally nodded and ran off quickly.

a few minutes later

The Coven stood in a circle quietly with their eyes closed, concentrating. They felt their way through the wreckage of the house; they shied away slightly from the heat but continued moving. Bingo!

They felt several life-forces inside the building as well as the magic surrounding them, they also felt the link burning fiercely between Willow and Levi; as the explosion went off Willow had subconsciously latched onto her brother's power and dragged it through the link so that she could use it to protect herself and everyone else in the house.

That was why Levi had passed out and why he seemed so…lifeless. Using the link in this manner was obviously dangerous, not to mention unethical; they wouldn't be surprised if Willow had overloaded on the power and passed out leaving the power stationary and in the place she wanted it to be.

But the power would run out without Willow to control it, they had to find a way to get them out of the house quickly; how much time did they have left?

fifteen minutes later inside the house

Buffy tried again to see through the fiery walls, but she couldn't see anything outside it least of all Giles, she growled in frustration. Xander spoke up, "Farged id, Buffy. I don' thick we're ge'in' ou' a here." He cringed and rubbed his swollen cheek lightly.

"We will," said Buffy firmly. "We just have to think of a way out."

Anya shook her head, "How? The only magic-users here are either outside or unconscious! Buffy can't kick her way out of the damn fire, and the rest of us have no powers!" the situation seemed pretty bad to her. "And how long before this barrier stops working?"

Buffy was just about a give an angry retort when Dawn yelled, "Buffy!" the Slayer looked at her sister quickly and saw her looking behind her and Anya. Everyone followed the teen's line of vision and gaped in shock and disbelief.

Parts of the walls were now lacking the fire and smoke it once had; in its place was water and steam and also the place outside the barrier which was completely wrecked and destroyed. They saw what looked like a second barrier next to theirs. As the water lessened they could mostly see everything around the barrier, but the whole place was full of steam.

At least the smoke and fire was almost gone.

They jumped in shock as they heard a crash and some creaking noises above them, the building was unstable. Dawn looked around warily and hoped they wouldn't be crushed if the house collapsed. She frowned slightly as the barrier, which had a faint purplish tinge to it, flickered for a second like a light bulb which was low on energy.

"Uh, hey!" yelled Anya hopefully. "Can you people save us now…uh, please?"

They vaguely recognized them as the coven members, friends of Willow's brother. The group were crowding around the barrier, a blond haired young man looked at Buffy and said, "The barrier's about ready to collapse," he paused. "You're the Slayer, right?"

Buffy nodded.

"The barrier should disappear if you attack it," he said looking at the blonde.

She looked at her friends, "What do you guys think?"

Anya rolled her eyes, "We haven't got anything to lose by listening to him."

The Slayer launched herself at it without further ado and hoped it would work.


	12. the funeral a month later

Family relations chapter 12

One Month Later

The sun shone brightly, and the trees and bushes swayed slightly in the gentle breeze; the weather was at odds with the emotions of the people in the cemetery. They were dressed in dark colours and were looking solemn as they stared at the wooden coffin being lowered into the pit made in the ground while listening to the words being read out in her memory.

The redheaded witch stared down at her hands with a pained expression on her face, she watched the coffin until it was out of sight; her upper stomach ached dully, her throat felt painfully tight and her eyes stung. She felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up she saw her brother looking at her with concern, she looked away from Levi's green eyes and her face contorted with pain; she felt him hug her tightly as the man, who didn't even know her girlfriend, finished talking.

"Will?" she didn't even have to raise her head know that it was Buffy. "You want to say anything?"

Willow shook her head, What was there to say? Tara was dead, there was nothing left to say.

She heard a sniffle a looked up, Buffy was hugging a tearful-looking Dawn; she looked around and saw that her friends- her family- were the only people left standing by the newly-made grave. She looked at the grave stone.

Tara Maclay

October 16th, 1980 – May 7th, 2002

'Sunshine passed behind a cloud'

Her throat tightened again, she felt tears roll down her cheeks and then felt her brother hug her tighter, "It'll get easier," he said quietly. "Just give it time."

How could it get easier? Tara, who she loved more than life itself, was dead. She'd never see her laugh, never touch her again, never get to see her talk or be happy. She was just dead, in the ground. Gone.

Just like a lot of their love-lives had ended; Angel and Buffy had ended horribly, hers and Oz's relationship had crumbled, Giles and Jenny's relationship had been destroyed and so had hers and Tara's, just like so many of their relationships it had ended just when the bond was at its strongest.

Love on the Hellmouth never lasted.

She felt the stem of the two roses she clenched in her hand, she looked at it; the petals were white, silky and soft. A vague thought flitted through her mind for a second that the stems of the roses, which she held very tightly, still had the thorns attached.

She looked at the palm of her hand blankly, it was smudged with a little blood, then she placed the two flowers at the base of the marble-white headstone.

Buffy put a hand on her shoulder, "You'll see her again, we'll all see her again eventually."

Willow shook her head, "I won't, I'm going to Hell- I know it." How could she go to the same place as Tara after she killed Warren…not to mention Rack and what she tried to do to the planet they had tried so hard to protect. She was no better than the evil she was fighting.

She felt Buffy resting her forehead against her own lightly and heard her whisper, "You won't go there, trust me."

Dawn glared at the ground, "Warren and Rack deserved all they got…and more." They did, people she loved kept dying and getting hurt and they were responsible for what happened to Tara, yet another person she loved dying.

Tara and Willow were the best, they were great together- she knew it even when they were broken up over the magic. They were meant to be forever, and Warren and Rack destroyed that.

As far as she was concerned they could both rot in Hell forever. They deserved it.

next day

Giles looked at Willow, "Are you ready?" they were standing in the airport terminal.

After much discussion it was decided that Giles and Levi would take Willow to England to train and control her growing power; they would have gone to Levi's coven but Giles doubted their ability to help his protégé. So England was where they were going.

"Yeah, I'm ready," replied Willow flatly. Xander hugged her warmly and the rest of the Scooby Gang crowded around her in silent support.

Over the last month the bond of the Scooby Gang had mended itself and grown stronger, the communication barrier between them all had collapsed and they'd started talking to each other about their thoughts and problems. Basically, they were stronger as a family.

After the Summers' house had been destroyed the Gang had moved into the house that Willow and Levi used to live in, their parents were never home so they'd never know either way.

A psychiatrist who used to work for the Watchers's Council had flown in from Ireland and was now helping Buffy cope with her resurrection and also the responsibility of being the Slayer.

Things were improving in Sunnydale a little, not much but it was a start.

"You'll be fine, Will," said Buffy, and she knew her friend would be. Out of all the gang Willow was probably had the most mental and emotion-strength in her, she was a very stubborn and determined person. She'd be okay.

Xander nodded agreeing with the blonde, "Buffy's right, we'll be rooting for ya; even if we are on the other side of the planet."

The redhead smiled weakly and looked at Giles as the PA announced that the flight was ready. Giles lead her away towards the plane.


	13. as time passes and Buffy's wish

Family relations chapter 13

AN: The episodes, ie: Lessons and Beneath you' are not mine.

some Kennedy-bashing. But not much

The episode: lessons

3 months later

In Westbury England

Giles slowly approached a large tree with Willow sitting at its base, the redhead stared at the ground and magically the ground produced a large tropical flower, which rose up from the grass. She became aware of Giles's shadow and knew that he was beside her.

"That doesn't belong there" said Giles conversationally.

"No, it doesn't," agreed Willow pleased with herself.

"The 'flora kua alaya', a native of Paraguay, if my botany serves," he added.

She glanced up at him and smiled, "Is there anything you don't know about?"

"Synchronized swimming. Complete mystery to me," he confessed. He drew closer, studying the flower. "Yes. Paraguay." He looked at her. "Where did it come from?"

"Paraguay," she said breathlessly.

"You brought it through the earth," he commented.

"It's all connected," she told him. "The root systems, the molecules, the energy. Everything's connected."

"You sound like Mrs. Harkness," he observed. Referring to Willow's Coven Mistress. She realized he'd been sent to find her, that the coven had been concerned that she hadn't shown up at her lesson. Afraid more like.

"The coven is…they're the most amazing women I've met," she told him. "But there's this look they get, like I'm going to turn them into bangers and mash or something. Which I'm not even really sure what that is."

"They're cautious," said Giles gently. "I trust you can understand that."

"I don't have that much power," she murmured. "I don't think."

"But everything's connected," he reminded her, gesturing to the flower, using her own words back on her. "You're connected to great power, whether you feel it or not."

"You should just take it from me," Willow ventured, rising, crossing toward the place where she lived.

As they walked, he said, "You know we can't. This isn't a hobby, or an addiction. It's inside you now. It's magic. You're responsible for it."

"Will they always be afraid of me?" she asked him.

He considered, "Maybe. Can you handle it?"

She felt lost. A lot lost. She had no idea how to answer him.

"I deserve a lot worse. I killed people, Giles."

They stopped walking and regarded one another.

"I've not forgotten," he said soberly.

"When you brought me here," she confessed. "I thought it was to kill me. Or lock me in some dungeon for all eternity, or with the torture…instead you go all Dumbledore on me. I'm learning about magic, and energy and Gaia and root systems…"

"Do you want to be punished?" Giles asked.

She felt terrible guilt and pain, and still some anger too. 'I killed Warren…but he killed Tara.'

"I want to be Willow," she answered.

"You are," Giles's voice was still calm, still gentle. "In the end we are all who we are…no matter how much we may appear to have changed.

'Does he mean to comfort me with that?' she wondered.

A week later

Episode: beneath you

And Willow snapped out of her vision, sprawled on the lawn before the old stone house, while Giles and Levi urged her to breathe. She had collapsed, she was lying on the ground with her hands in the grass. She looked up at her mentor and her older brother, stunned by what she had seen and felt…by what she KNEW...

"We were talking," she told him. "And I felt…"

She jerked her hands away from the grass.

"I felt the earth."

She looked at Giles uneasily. "It's all connected. It is, only it's not all good and pure and rootsy…there's deep, deep black, there's…I saw the earth, Giles. I saw its teeth."

They understood at once.

"The Hellmouth," Giles and Levi said simultaneously.

"It's going to open," She was terrified, swaying with what she knew. Sick from it. "It's going to swallow us all."

A year later

A few months after 'Chosen'

Buffy knew she was dreaming almost instantly, she was in her room but it was full of pearly-white fog and cloud. She looked around and raised her fists; "Okay, who's looking to get their butts kicked?"

"I've no idea," said a disembodied voice. "Though, it certainly wouldn't be me."

Buffy swallowed nervous, 'Don't worry Summers,' she thought. 'Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean anything…'

"Of course it doesn't," said the voice again sounding playful. "You did kill 'Der Kindestod' did you not?"

The blonde spun around trying to find the source of the voice. "Where are you? And…did you read my thoughts?!"

After a chuckle was heard she saw a figure materialize in front of her dressed in normal clothes not looking at all demony, the Slayer stepped forward, "Who…are…you," she gritted out threateningly.

The woman smirked slightly, "No need to be tetchy, Slayer. I'm not your enemy."

"That right?" the blonde muttered looking unconvinced. "Then who are you?"

"Trina," she answered. "I've been looking forward to having this talk."

Buffy raised an eyebrow, "Uh huh, so I presume this is a dream."

"Kind of," replied Trina. "It's a form of communication that the Powers and I have selected."

"The Powers?" Buffy didn't like the sound of this. The PTB never brought anyone good news, they usually meant trouble. "What do they want?"

Trina smiled cheerfully, "To give you a reward."

Buffy gave her a blank look, "A reward?" should she like the sound of that?

"You've spent the last eight years fighting the forces of darkness, saving peoples' lives," said Trina crossing her shirt-clad arms. "You are deserving of a reward…do you disagree?"

Buffy frowned then shook her head, "Well, no but…

Trina nodded, "Brilliant."

"So, what do I get? A new pair of shoes…what?"

Trina chuckled, "No, you get a wish."

Buffy scoffed, "No! If you know about the 'Der Kinderstod' thing then you know about all those times my friends and I got into trouble because of wishes."

"The PTB have no malevolent intensions," she promised. "And this wish has nothing to do with Vengeance Demons."

The blonde considered this, "Are you serious? I get a wish, and nothing…bad will come out of it?"

"Not unless you wish it to," Trina answered. "You can wish for anything you like…you can wish that Angel never lost his soul, that Riley never left you, that you you're just human- no Slayer powers...anything."

"Really…I…really?" the Slayer stuttered slightly disbelievingly.

"Yes, really," then she said. "You've got 12 hours to think of a wish, I will return then."

Then Buffy woke up.

Buffy blinked up at the ceiling and uttered one word, "Wowsa."

5 hours later

Willow placed some rocks on her girlfriend's tombstone; she traced the name with her fingers, "Hey baby, it's me again."

Despite the face that Tara's body wasn't in the grave she still felt that she could speak to her, the original grave had fallen into the crater when Sunnydale had gone FUBAR.

"I did it, I never thought I could. But I did," she said looking slightly sad. "But she didn't give me much of a choice."

She had broken up with her latest girlfriend, Kennedy, recently something that she had found hard to do despite her reasons…which were pretty valid.

"She really wasn't lying when she told me she was a brat," Willow continued. Kennedy had also said that she got everything that she wanted. That should have been the first warning sign; the dark-haired Slayer was a control-freak, she tried to control everything…even her. Many blazing rows later Willow had ended it, and unsurprisingly Kennedy hadn't taken it at all well.

Then her phone rang, bringing her out of her depressing thoughts. "I'd better go," she said. "I'll be back soon, though." Smiling weakly, eyes wet with tears she got to her feet and walked back to her new home while taking her cell out and answering the call.

2 hours later

Buffy had her arm around Willow as they sat on the sofa together watching reruns of 'Stargate: SG1', they chuckled through the funny parts of the show and frowned at the bad guys messing with SG1. the NID reminded them too much of 'The Initiative'.

Willow had snickered when Buffy wondered out-loud whether that was where Maggie Walsh had gotten her ideas from.

Buffy smiled at the recent memory, she looked at her best friend and saw that she had fallen asleep with her head on the blonde's shoulder, she hugged her warmly and looked back at the television.

A few minutes later Buffy heard Willow's moans of fear and distress and looked at her, "Damn." The Slayer shook her friend's shoulder gently, "Will, wake up."

"Tara…" the blonde heard her mumble.

Buffy sighed, "Oh Will." If only there was something she could…there was.

5 hours later

The sky was dark outside, and getting darker by the minute.

A flash of light lit up the area briefly and then dimmed, the source of the light was currently residing in the Summers' bedroom where Buffy was. The blonde was sitting in her chair expectantly, waiting for the woman to appear.

"Hey Trina," she greeted. "The wish?"

Trina nodded brightly, "Twelve hours has passed now." Then she frowned. "You do know what you're wishing for, right?"

"Uh…oh! Yeah, I do!" Buffy said looking a little nervous.

"Well?"

"I…I wish for…."

Next morning

Willow pressed her face into the soft pillow sleepily, she vaguely noted that her bed was warmer than usual. She rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling and yawned, she raised herself into a sitting position.

She first thing she noted was that there was a person-sized figure under her bedcovers, the next thing she noticed was that the figure had blonde hair, she frowned slightly, "Buffy?"

Why would Buffy be in her bed?

Then she heard a yell that made her as nervous as hell, "Dawn?! Breakfast!"

"Okay…so," she muttered cautiously. "So…not Buffy." Then who?

She swallowed and got off the bed slowly and quietly, she moved around to the other side of the bed and ripped the covers off expecting an attack. Then she gaped in shock and went even paler than usual.

"Ugghhn," she choked out.

The figure opened her eyes, her blue eyes, and looked at Willow smiling nervously, "Hi, Will."

"Uh…T-Tara?" she said in a tiny voice. Shaking Willow moved forwards as her formally-dead-girlfriend sat up in bed; the redhead touched Tara's shoulder uncertainly and swallowed almost choking as she figured out that Tara wasn't a ghost and that she wasn't dreaming. "Tara?"

The blonde witch got to her feet and enveloped the redhead in a warm hug, "Hi baby," she mumbled into her girlfriend's shoulder.

A/N: That's all for now, there'll be a short sequel but probably not for a while.


End file.
